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Over and above her pledge to the local
church, each woman who is a member of PW will be encouraged to make an
annual pledge through PW in the congregation for:
a) Women's Mission Support for the worldwide missions of the Presbyterian
Church (USA) through the General Assembly mission budget and
b) The basic operating budget of PW at the congregation, presbytery, synod
and church wide levels.
Thank Offering -
Recognition of God's blessings to us – The Thank Offering originated with Mrs.
Elizabeth Closkey of Springfield, Ohio. Her plan was to have each woman give $1.00 over and above her
usual contribution to the Women's General Missionary Society of the United
Presbyterian Church of North America as a "thank offering" to her
Lord. In 1888 a day was set aside as a day of prayer and thanksgiving. The
meetings were to be a "concert of prayer and praise " and the
gathering of the "Thank Offering." The gifts were presented as
the annual feature of the convention. It is certain that these gifts
represent a self-sacrificing on the part of many women. It has been said
that women's giving saved the worldwide missionary movement at that time.
By the vote of the 1991 Church wide Gathering, 40 percent of the offering
goes to PCUSA supported hospitals and health programs. Projects are
selected by the Creative Ministries Offering Committee. This expression of
thanksgiving is an important part of PW. At Bacon this offering is received
in November and is dedicated at the Fall Gathering.
Fellowship of the
Least Coin - This fund
was established in 1956 By Shanti Solomon of India who considered that
women anywhere could have a sense of being part of a worldwide family of
faith as they prayed for peace and reconciliation in the family, the
community, the nation and the world. Each woman was to set aside the
"least coin" of her country as a token of that prayer for peace.
By limiting the offering to the least coin, every woman in every country is
able to participate. Grants made by an international committee for special
projects of service, evangelism and relief throughout the world,
particularly programs of development and empowerment of women and
opportunities for women to meet internationally and ecumenically. At Bacon
this offering is made at our monthly circle meetings and dedicated in
March.
Birthday Offering
- Recognition of our heritage - In 1922, ten years after the Women's Auxiliary of the Presbyterian
Church in the United States (PCUS) was formed, the women sought an
appropriate way to celebrate what the Auxiliary had meant to them. Mrs.
Hallie Paxson Winsborough, Superintendent of Women's Work, touring mission
stations in the Orient, visited Miss Dowd's school for girls in Kochi, Japan. She saw inadequate facilities and crowded rooms
and recognized a need which could be met by Presbyterian Women in the United States. Returning home she challenged all women of the
church to give only one penny for each day of their lives (or a dollar) as
a "Birthday Gift" to those school girls in Japan. Thus began a tradition of annual "Women of
the Church Birthday Celebrations." The offerings have enabled a long
succession of new and often innovative mission projects to be accomplished
both overseas and in the United States. PW continues this tradition. At Bacon this
offering is dedicated in June.
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Presbyterian
Women 